On geodesic curvature flow with level set formulation over triangulated surfaces (Q520200)

Let \(M\) be a compact smooth surface in \({\mathbb R}^3\). In the geodesic curvature flow problem, one wishes to find a one parameter set of curves \(C_t\) on \(M\), for \(0\leq t\leq L\), where \(C_0\) is a given initial curve, and \(C_L\) is a local minimum of the length functional; i.e., a geodesic. By the work of \textit{S. Osher} and \textit{J. A. Sethian} [J. Comput. Phys. 79, No. 1, 12--49 (1988; Zbl 0659.65132)], this may be recast into a level-set problem. Here one evolves a function \(\phi:M\rightarrow{\mathbb R}\) by solving a particular evolution equation with specified initial function \(\phi_0\) for which \(C_0\) is the zero set. The curve \(C_t\) is the zero set of \(\phi_t\). Now suppose that \(M\) is triangulated by a collection of nondegenerate triangles. The authors discretize the evolution equation for \(\phi\) under the assumption that \(\phi_t\) is constant on each triangle of \(M\), obtaining a discrete implicit integration scheme. The resulting sequence \(\Phi^{(0)},\Phi^{(1)},\dots\) of solutions is termed the \textit{discrete geodesic curvature flow} with initial flow function \(\Phi_0=\Phi^{(0)}\). It is shown that, for a given initial flow function, the discrete geodesic curvature flow exists and is unique. Moreover, the integration scheme is numerically stable. The zero set of the flow function is taken to be the \textit{discontinuity set} of \(\Phi^{(n)}\): the set of all edges \(e\) for which the values of \(\Phi^{(n)}\) at the two triangles that share \(e\) have the opposite sign. Numerical experiments indicate that the discrete geodesic curvature flow converges to a discrete function whose discontinuity set consists of closed discrete geodesics. Using discrete geodesic curvature flow, the authors go on to develop an efficient algorithm for multi-phase segmentation. That is, given an initial collection of discrete curves that partition \(M\) into various regions, the curves are evolved using a single level-set function to a collection of discrete geodesics that partition \(M\).